Too Lazy

The other day my roommate said that her grandmother always says she's "too lazy." Too lazy not to wash the dishes right away. Too lazy not to put stuff away right away etc.This sort of behavior is lazy because if you leave it then things get crusted on, or you trip over stuff etc. My roommate although she could see the wisdom in it decided she was "real lazy" not her grandma's lazy.
My mother repeats the old adage "a stitch in time saves nine" on occasion, usually in regards to sewing but I think the same principle is displayed. I've decided that I agree, especially in regards to doing dishes, partly because I think a kitchen sink full of dishes is rather repulsive. I'm not quite so good at it in regards to other things (like folding my laundry) but I still think it a good principle... and I really am too lazy not to clean up that spilled juice right away.

Consuming and Creating: Part 10: Destruction

This morning my dad and I were talking about self-defeating habits. We all seem to have them. Crazy busy so you procrastinate. Not getting enough sleep so you go to bed late. Depressed and lonely so you hunker down and stay inside by yourself. Feeling discouraged that you aren't accomplishing much so you only do fun (consuming type activities) instead.... It's a real problem.
In the past I've talked about how apathy is in some ways the opposite of creating, because if we don't care enough to create then we might as well consume. This was more in regards to particular practices or things we do, but what about our very beings?
As we were talking about self-defeating habits or in other words, self-destructive habits it made me think of becoming... as in who we are becoming not just a specific practice.
Thus, it seems that when we are self-disciplined (not doing self-defeating things) then we are usually progressing and becoming (creating) a better person while when we are participating in self-destructive behaviors we are losing? destroying? the person that we could be.
Most of the behaviors or decisions I mentioned at the beginning can probably be linked back to a root problem of just not caring enough at that moment to make a better decision (or ignorance I suppose). This apathy then, is in reality destructive, and so to put it dramatically, if I'm not creating a better me I'm destroying the current me.

Being Natural; Comfortable or Expectation

All through middle school I spent the majority of my gym classes walking around the field with one of my friends, because that was an option and it was easier then putting myself out there and participating in sports I didn't know much about. Plus, my friend didn't feel comfortable going out there either.
Then one year in High School a different friend was in my gym class. We had been friends for years, and we had played running around games in my backyard, and his. I quite suddenly became one of the few girls in class that actively participated in gym class.

This week one of my good geology friends invited me to a graduate student dinner and devotional with her. The topic was faith and scholarship and we ate a catered dinner while the speaker talked. Then we sat around and visited for awhile with our tablemates, a girl from the physics department, and two boys, one an accountant and the other from educational research. The accountant happened to be an old high school friend of my friend, but other than that we were all basically strangers. A rather remarkable thing happened, we sat around and had an indepth discussion about what each of us were studying and how it related to our religious views. It was fascinating and well balanced and spiritually and intellectually edifying.
As my friend and I walked away I said "what just happened?" I've had conversations like that before but usually with family members or friends that I've known for some time, not strangers.

In both examples, high school gym class and dinner with strangers, I was able to be more myself immediately when I was accompanied by someone else that I was comfortable with and who was comfortable with the situation. What I don't know is why?
I suspect that is one of two reasons, or maybe a combination of both,
First, being with my friend who is comfortable makes me more willing to be vulnerable and natural.
Second, being with my friend who expects me to be myself, and might call me out if I'm not, makes it so I live up to the expectations of my friend, and hence act more natural.
I don't know what it is but I admit I like it better and I'm grateful when this sort of thing can play out... to be fair though, I still think the whole dinner thing was incredibly unique, and as someone said to me when I was trying to describe it, "the stars must have aligned."

Gratitude from a Sick Bed

I was sick all week but I decided that I was grateful for tissues (I can't even imagine the quantities of handkerchiefs!), breathing through my nose (I woke up this morning with my mouth closed and not dried out and weird feeling, hurrah!), and people (no matter the entertainment value of movies and books there is something about just watching people move about their daily lives that is intriguing, amusing and unpredictable).

Highschool Experiment

She belittled her students, and grinned after talking about handing out F's. She seemed to thrive off intimidation. And I sat on the front row.
I rebelled, because that's what I do when people dictate my respones. Having recently read the first couple of books of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time I liked the character Lan, who from what I remember, is a tough warrior who says little and shows his emotions even less. I had always admired such characters and so I decided to emulate them when I entered that teacher's classroom.
It was hard at first, but soon the moment I walked through the doors of B Period all emotion would drain from my face and there was nothing. On at least one occasion I remember the teacher telling a joke and as the class chuckled she looked directly at me and feeling nothing but obligation I quirked a lip. By refusing to show emotion I had almost lost the ability to feel emotion in that class.
At the end of the year I invited all of my school teachers to a dinner at my church that the youth were specifically hosting for all their teachers. She came and sat next to my parents and I ended up serving their table. At the end of the night (which including me spilling some salad on my dad) she told my parents that "she's shown more emotion tonight then in the whole year I've taught her."
I'm not quite sure why but during this whole experience I realized that although I was not harmed (insulted/intimidated) by my teacher I also lost the opportunity to have any positive emotions in that class and I decided although Lan may seem cool it is not actually cool to be someone with no emotion.
So, why are emotionless characters so common? They seem like they have become more common in some movies lately, but emotionless is not really anything anyone can actually relate too... unless some people are emotionless (but I don't believe they are). And aren't the best characters the ones you relate to?
It seems as if perhaps because emotions can cause problems or can make us vulnerable then people assume that having no emotion is the answer, but having no emotion means you can't be happy, and I like to be happy.
So, I have to admit I am grateful for that teacher, and the odd experiment I undertook, because now I know.

Side note: I think controlling your emotions is entirely different then embracing apathy, and controlling (bridling) your emotions is vital.

Positivity

Recently I have been filling out applications and I get tired of all the questions couched in politically correct terms but really saying "please complain about how hard your life is." I wouldn't mind so much if they were asking about how I have overcome hard things but I don't think they are.
One question said something along the lines of "if you are from a group that is usually a minority within higher education please describe how your point of view will broaden the diversity of our school." I asked my friends for a few suggestions and I just rebelled at the thought of writing them (poor me I'm a woman in science). So instead I wrote this:
Historically women are underrepresented in higher education; however, this has not been a negative experience for me. Being part of an accepted minority has allowed me to see how diversity, when respected, can foster additional insights, creativity, and increased openness.
I think I had like 600 more characters I could have used but my writing tends to be brief.
It makes me wonder why people seem to like sob stories so much. Isn't it far too easy already to think and talk negatively, why not focus on our triumphs and overcoming? Why not focus on the bright and beautiful things in the world (or dark and beautiful--you know how I feel about nighttime) just because we can? Why focus on the differences when we can rejoice in common ground?
Perhaps some might say you only say that because your life is easy. You haven't been a shunned outsider/minority. And my answer to that is: you're right, my life is good, so again why should I complain about it. Maybe your life is good too and if you focused on the positive it might be better still.

Weirdness Defense

At get to know you activities (which I seem to constantly be a part of) one of the typical things is to go around in a person and say your name and one thing that is "interesting about you." Then I try to desperately think of something that is random but not actually that helpful in getting to know me... As in I don't like to say things that are typically seen as cool. For example on a few different occasions I've said "my hair is brown", "I like paperclips", or "I like to dig in the dirt". Random but not actually helpful.
The other day someone suggested I apply to Yale. I said "Why in the world would I want to go there?"
My friend said "because then people would think you're awesome."
"Exactly why would I want to go there?"
And she said, "because you are awesome."
I do think I'm interesting and kind of cool but I hate it when people assume I am for the wrong reasons. Maybe that is why I don't like it when people find out I'm a Master's student and they start gushing about how smart I am.... or I'm studying paleontology (dinosaurs) so suddenly I'm cooler than the person studying finance... ok so I don't mind that when it's my nephews that think I'm cool but yeah.
So basically I realized that I would rather tell acquaintances things that make me seem weird rather then cool.... perhaps it is a form of self defense. Tell them something weird so they run away instead of letting them get to know me and then having them run away.
Sometimes I think I am pretty confident and then I figure things like that out about myself and I think, maybe I'm not as confident as I thought.